Ultimately, I was looking to add one more good defenceman and one more solid forward to my team. Plus another goalie would be good, but I may have to wait until the draft for that one.

I was in talks with multiple owners to trade Granlund, but in the end, the deals weren’t worth it. I’m pretty high on Granlund, so I figured if I’m going to trade him, I should wait until I get a deal I can’t say no to.

Anyway, on to the deals:

Deal #1

I sent a second round pick and a third round pick 2013 (both in 2013) for Mark Giordano and a fourth round pick in this year’s draft (46th overall).

I accomplished two goals with this deal. I picked up a good defenceman, and I got another pick in this year’s draft. All without giving up anyone on my current roster or any of this year’s picks.

I only had four picks for this year’s draft. I wanted to get that up to five for two reasons: 1) in case I make another trade that loses me a pick, and 2) to give me depth in the draft.

Now, the fourth round isn’t that high a pick, but I’m confident enough in my drafting abilities to get a good player there. Last year, I had the 46th pick in our draft, and used it to select Ryan Murphy. So there can be some good late-round gems if you know what you want and/or need.

As for Giordano, he gives me the depth I need on defence. He had only 27 points last year, but was injured for part of the season. He was actually on pace for 36 points. The year before that, he had a 43-point season. And the year before, 30 points. So I’m pretty confident he can get at least 30 points in a full NHL season. It may not sound like a lot, but for a defenceman, that’s pretty good in our pool.

As you can see above, I have two potential problems with my defence: Whether Andrei Markov can play a full year, and if Ryan Murphy doesn’t make the Carolina Hurricanes. Giordano is good insurance in case either one (or even both) of those things happen. Instead of being down to three dmen, I would have four.

So I accomplished two goals with that deal. But I still wanted another good forward. That led me to:

Deal #2

I sent my second round pick (20th overall) for Joe Pavelski.

I love this deal for me. Pavelski is pretty much a 60-point player (last four seasons: 59, 51, 66, 61. That 51-point season was low because he was injured. He was on a 62-point pace).

I looked at my list of players, and who I thought would be available at 20th overall. None of them are 60-point guys really. They might have the potential to reach 60 points, but Pavelski is a safer bet than all of them.

Now drafts are a funny thing. It’s quite possible that someone I have ranked seventh drops down to #20. But I think there’s only five players that have a shot at 60 points, and only three of them are what I think are guarantees. I plan on taking one in the first round (unless another player drops to me at pick #8, but I don’t think he will). So the odds of one of the other two making it to pick #20 are slim.

And even if they did drop there, they are not an improvement over Pavelski. They’re all the same type of player.

This deal really hedges my bets. I get a 60-point player regardless, but I don’t need to worry about one dropping to me in the draft.

Pavelski is a good add-on when you look at my team overall. If Duchene or Hall or Zetterberg or whoever has an off-year, then Pavelski picks up the slack.

So in the end, I improved my team, didn’t lose out on any roster players and no first round picks.

Now, if only the lockout could end so I could have a shot at winning this season, and everything is set.